The digital era (1975 to Present) History of sound recording

in digital era, audio recording becomes increasingly dominated digital audio workstations (daw)

the fourth , current phase , digital era, has seen rapid, dramatic , far-reaching series of changes in history of audio recording. in period of less 20 years, previous recording technologies rapidly superseded digital sound encoding, perfected japanese electronics corporation sony in 1970s. unlike previous technologies, captured continuous analogue of sounds being recorded, digital recording captured sound means of dense , rapid series of discrete samples of sound. when played through digital-to-analogue converter, these audio samples recombined form continuous flow of sound. first all-digitally-recorded popular music album, ry cooder s bop til drop, released in 1979, , point, digital sound recording , reproduction became new standard @ every level, professional recording studio home hi-fi.

although number of short-lived hybrid studio , consumer technologies appeared in period (e.g. digital audio tape or dat, recorded digital signal samples onto standard magnetic tape), sony assured preeminence of new digital recording system introducing, philips, advanced consumer audio format date — digital compact disc (cd). compact disc rapidly replaced both 12 album , 7 single new standard consumer format, , ushered in new era of high-fidelity consumer audio — cds small, portable , durable, , reproduce entire audible sound spectrum, unrestricted dynamic range, perfect clarity , no distortion. because cds encoded , read optically, using laser beam, there no physical contact between disc , playback mechanism, well-cared-for cd played on , over, absolutely no degradation or loss of fidelity. cds represented considerable advance in both physical size of medium, , storage capacity — lps practically hold 50 minutes of audio, because physically limited size of disc , density of grooves cut it — longer recording, closer grooves , lower overall fidelity; cds, on other hand less half overall size of old 12 lp format, offered double duration of average lp, 80 minutes of audio.

the compact disc totally dominated consumer audio market end of 20th century, within decade, rapid developments in computing technology saw rendered virtually redundant in few years significant new invention in history of audio recording — digital audio file (.wav, .mp3 , other formats). when combined newly developed digital signal compression algorithms, reduced file sizes, digital audio files rapidly came dominate domestic market, commercial innovations such apple s itunes media application, , hugely popular ipod portable media player.

however, introduction of digital audio files, in concert rapid developments in home computing, led unforeseen consequence — widespread unlicensed distribution of audio , other digital media files. uploading , downloading of large volumes of digital media files @ high speed facilitated freeware file sharing technologies such napster , bittorrent. concurrent development of high-volume private data storage networks, combined rapidly increasing internet signal speeds , continuous improvements in data storage devices, fuelled explosion in illegal sharing of copyrighted digital media. has caused great consternation among record labels , copyright owners such ascap, have pressured government agencies make trans-national efforts shut down data-storage , file-sharing networks, , prosecute site operators, , individual downloaders.

although infringement remains significant issue copyright owners, development of digital audio has had considerable benefits consumers. in addition facilitating high-volume, low-cost transfer , storage of digital audio files, new technology has powered explosion in availability of so-called back-catalogue titles stored in archives of recording labels, fact labels can convert old recordings , distribute them digitally @ fraction of cost of physically reissuing albums on lp or cd. digital audio has enabled dramatic improvements in restoration , remastering of acoustic , pre-digital electric recordings, , freeware consumer-level digital software can eliminate scratches, surface noise , other unwanted sonic artefacts old 78rpm , vinyl recordings , enhance sound quality of badly damaged records. in field of consumer-level digital data storage, continuing trend towards increasing capacity , falling costs means consumers can acquire , store vast quantities of high-quality digital media (audio, video, games , other applications), , build media libraries consisting of tens or hundreds of thousands of songs, albums, or videos — collections which, wealthiest, have been both physically , financially impossible amass in such quantities if on 78 or lp, yet can contained on storage devices no larger average hardcover book.

the digital audio file marked end of 1 era in recording , beginning of another. digital files eliminated need create or use discrete, purpose-made physical recording medium (a disc, or reel of tape, etc.) primary means of capturing, manufacturing , distributing commercial sound recordings. concurrent development of these digital file formats, dramatic advances in home computing , rapid expansion of internet mean digital sound recordings can captured, processed, reproduced, distributed , stored entirely electronically, on range of magnetic , optical recording media, , these can distributed anywhere in world, no loss of fidelity, , crucially, without need first transfer these files form of permanent recording medium shipment , sale.

music streaming services have gained popularity since late 2000s. streaming audio not require listener download or own audio files, instead listen on internet. streaming services offer alternate method of consuming music , follow freemium business model. freemium model many music streaming services use, such spotify , apple music, provide limited amount of content free, , premium services payment. there 2 categories in streaming services categorized, radio or on-demand. streaming services such pandora use radio model, allowing users select playlists not specific songs listen to, while services such apple music allow users listen both individual songs , pre-made playlists.